Dem Representative Defects To GOP
Mesha Mainor, a Georgia state representative, and a Democrat, announced Tuesday she will be moving to the other side of the aisle and officially switching her party affiliation to Republican.
Mainor made the announcement shortly before noon, citing unacceptable treatment from the Democratic party among the reasons behind her decision.
"When I decided to stand up on behalf of disadvantaged children in support of school choice, my Democrat colleagues didn’t stand by me," Mainor said in a statement to Fox News. "They crucified me. When I decided to stand up in support of safe communities and refused to support efforts to defund the police, they didn’t back me. They abandoned me."
Mainor, who has been representing District 56 in the Georgia House since January 2021, accused the Democratic party of using and abusing the black community for far too long.
"For decades, the Democrat Party has received the support of more than 90% of the black community," she said. "And what do we have to show for it? I represent a solidly blue district in the city of Atlanta. This isn’t a political decision for me. It’s a moral one."
Mainor made it clear that her work across party lines will remain the same after switching parties, saying she had "never hesitated to work across the aisle to deliver results for my community and the people I was elected to represent. And that won't change."
The legislator has been met with much encouragement for her move, including from Vernon Jones, a former Georgia state representative who also switched from Democrat to Republican earlier this year.
In an op-ed for Fox News, Jones said he was no longer a Democrat because he "cannot stand for the defunding of the police, higher taxes on working families, and job-killing socialist policies that will devastate Americans of all walks of life."
Mainor's decision to switch to the Republican majority in the House comes amid her support for a school choice bill recently passed in Georgia. The bill which proposed $6,500 vouchers for students attending some of the state's lowest-performing schools was passed amid much criticism from her Democrat counterparts.
The legislator previously revealed that some Democrats had tried to replace her by giving away donations to anyone who would challenge her for the role.
Mainor made it clear that education, school choice, and a Republican majority in the Georgia General Assembly will be the top priorities after her switch.
"I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Georgia General Assembly to tackle the most pressing issues facing our state and to help grow the Republican Party," she said.